The 7 Secrets of Neuron Leadership

Chapter 3What Leaders Need to Know About Personalities

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.

—HENRY FORD

The term psychology is derived from the Greek words psyche, meaning “spirit, soul, and breath,” and logia, which means “the study of something.” Psychology is the study of us: our mental and behavioral processes; how we interact with and react to the world around us. Ancient Greek philosophers were the founders of psychology, but the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt set up the first “psych lab” back in 1879. Since then, the science has spurred dozens of studies and theories about what makes us tick.

Full disclosure: Although I have studied various aspects of this science for decades, have consulted with dozens of experts, and also have three decades of management, leadership, and consulting expertise, I do not have a degree in psychology. I'm not a “leadership shrink” (Figure 3.1). Thus, a PhD somewhere might disagree with some of my conclusions, regardless of whether most of his peers concur. The science of our minds is anything but exact, and psychologists have frequently disagreed with each other throughout history. While researching this topic, I discovered that the “raw data” collected by field observations, ever since the time of the Greeks, is quite harmonious. Moreover, when the observational science is examined against the light of neuroscience, the revelations are astounding.

Figure 3.1 Shrinking Leadership

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